Bulk containers used in the industry for storing and shipping numerous products typically hold 2,000 pounds or more of the product, including flowable or semi-liquid products such as, e.g., comminuted poultry. The containers are commonly made of corrugated cardboard and comprise a plurality of sidewalls joined together along vertical folds. The bottoms of the containers preferably are closed or partially closed by inwardly folded bottom flaps joined to bottom edges of the side walls along horizontal folds. The flaps are separated from one another by slots or cuts extending from an outer edge of the flaps to a point at or near the intersection of the vertical and horizontal folds.
Bulk containers made of corrugated material are typically manufactured from a single blank that is scored to delineate the sidewalls, end walls, diagonal corner panels, and bottom flaps. The blank is folded and secured at a manufacturer's joint by the manufacturer, and shipped to the user in a flattened condition. The user then sets the flattened container on end and opens it up into an expanded tubular configuration. The bottom flaps are then folded inwardly and secured to hold the container in its set-up condition. Self-locking bottom flaps have been developed to facilitate setting up the container from its flattened condition to its fully open usable condition.
Bulk packaging containers often require a plastic bag liner to contain flowable product and/or to protect the product from contamination. These containers are often emptied using dumping equipment that lifts and inverts the container over a vat or storage bin. It is common for the plastic bag to follow the product out of the bulk container toward the vat. It is important that the bag does not get into the vat as it will be caught up in the processing equipment and contaminate the product. The plastic bag, therefore, is made to extend beyond the depth of the container, allowing the top end of the bag to drape over the sides of the container top end where it can be taped or stretch-wrapped to the container, prohibiting the bag from falling into the vat. However, the plastic bag still follows the product out of the container, but a distance is provided between the inverted container and the vat to prevent the bag from extending into the vat as long as the tape or stretch film holds the bag. In spite of this precaution, there are certain container depths and bag lengths which can cause issues where the bag can extend into the vat and get caught up in the equipment. Further, if the bag is not draped over and secured at the correct length, it can get into the equipment and contaminate the product. Bags are colored to help detect bag pieces in product during processing. Contamination causes significant product loss and down time. The cost associated with the plastic bag getting into the vat equipment can be substantial, with each incident costing thousands of dollars. The cost includes contaminated product, down time, labor to clean the system, and equipment repair.
Moreover, in conventional systems the bag can inadvertently be placed incorrectly in the container causing capacity loss, and more importantly, bag rupture and container failure. The bulk containers are usually rectilinear in shape, i.e. either rectangular or octagonal, and the bag is designed to accommodate the size and shape of the container. If the bag is placed in the wrong orientation in the container, i.e., with a wide dimension of the bag width aligned with a narrow dimension of the container width, the bag will not open properly and will cause void areas, cavities, and pockets to form during filling of the bag, preventing product to fill those areas and thereby reducing capacity. Also, the product will continuously apply pressure to the bag in those areas and potentially rupture the bag. Once this occurs, the product, often containing water or other liquid, will escape from the bag into the container. At that point, corrugated containers are subject to failure due to water saturation.
Further, if the bag is not properly opened within the container prior to being filled the results can be the same as when the bag is oriented incorrectly in the container as described above. If the bag is not allowed to reach and extend across the bottom of the container the bag can be stretched to the point of rupture. If the bag is not properly opened up prior to filling, air pockets can form, creating rupture points. Ruptures cause leakers that weaken the container potentially to failure.
It would be desirable to have a bulk container that is free of the problems associated with conventional bulk containers, and particularly to have an octagonal bulk container having a bag liner attached to the bottom of the container so that the bag is retained in the container until it is desired to remove it.